Page 123 of Trick or Tease

Sabrina mattered. The way she laughed when she was genuinely happy. The way she threw herself into everything she cared about with complete passion. The way she looked at me in that upstairs room like I was someone worth believing in.

Damn, I missed her. I missed touching her. And obviously I missed the sex. But it was so much more than that.

I needed that woman. There was a good chance she would never speak to me again. Even being neighbors.

I thought about all the dreams for the farm and her vision for what this place could become. I had let her talk all while knowing what I was considering.

No wonder she hated me.

But I wasn’t the man she thought I was. Not anymore. Maybe I never really had been deep down. Maybe I had just been playing a role for so long that I had forgotten who I really was underneath all the expensive suits and corporate ambition.

The man I really was loved this place. Loved the community, the traditions, the simple satisfaction of hard work and honest living. The man I really was had fallen completely, desperately in love with a stubborn, passionate woman who deserved so much better than the secrets I had been keeping.

I had to find a way to show her that. Not with grand gestures or expensive gifts but with actions. With time. With the kind of patient, consistent effort that proved I was serious about changing.

I rolled over and looked at the photos on my wall, all those pictures of us as kids, young and innocent and full of dreams. In every single one where Sabrina appeared, she was smiling. That bright, genuine smile that could light up a room.

I wanted to see that smile again. Directed at me. I wanted to earn it back.

It was going to take time. Sabrina was nothing if not stubborn, and I had given her every reason not to trust me. But I wasn’t going anywhere. For the first time in my adult life, I knew exactly where I belonged.

Now I just had to convince the woman I loved to let me stay.

After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, I finally gave up on sleep around five-thirty in the morning. My mind was racing with possibilities, with plans, with the desperate need to fix what I had broken. I knew what I had to do.

I threw on jeans and a T-shirt and padded down the hall to Billy’s room. Without bothering to knock, I burst through the door like the house was on fire.

“Billy! Wake up, I need your help.”

My brother groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. “Go away, Garrett.”

“No. I have to talk to you.”

“What time is it?”

“It doesn’t matter. I have an idea. A really good idea.” I was practically bouncing on my feet with nervous energy. “But I need you to help me pull it off.”

Billy peeked out from under the pillow, one eye barely open. “Can this wait until I’ve had coffee? Like, a lot of coffee?”

“No, it can’t wait. This is important. This is about Sabrina.”

That got his attention. He sat up slightly, his hair sticking up at odd angles. “What about Sabrina?”

“I need to show her that I’m serious about staying. I have to prove to her that I’m choosing this life. And her.” The words came tumbling out in a rush. “But it has to be perfect. It has to prove that I understand what really matters.”

Billy rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Okay, but seriously, dude. Coffee first. I can’t process grand romantic gestures without caffeine.”

I was too wired to wait, too afraid that if I stopped moving I would lose my nerve. “I’ll make the coffee. Just get dressed and meet me downstairs. Trust me on this. I know exactly what I need to do.”

I was already heading for the door before he could respond, my mind spinning with details and logistics. This had to work. It was my only shot at proving to Sabrina that I wasn’t the same man who almost sold her dreams out from under her.

I took the stairs two at a time. Despite having no sleep, it felt like I already consumed twelve pots of coffee. After spending a whole night thinking about what I needed to do, I was pretty sure I finally had a plan.

47

SABRINA

Ithrew myself into chores the next morning, desperate to keep my hands busy and my mind off everything that had happened. The familiar routine of milking, feeding, and mucking stalls was exactly what I needed. It was work that didn’t require me to think about lying lawyers or broken trust or the way my chest still ached every time I remembered how good it felt to be in Garrett’s arms.